After - almost - two years of self-imposed hiatus, I decided to come back and post. But I also decided that if I do it, I need new rules. First one? No more posting discipline - I'll post when I like. And what I like. My new place in the world? Dubai, with a great job which doesn't allow me much posting leeway. But I'll still try.

What I am liking right now is this fantastic song by Gustavo Cerati, an Argentinian songwriter who formed part of Soda Stereo, one of the biggest Latin American bands ever. And I say formed because he died this year after a two-year coma due to an aneurysm. And to think a**holes like (insert preferred a-hole here) still roam the Earth!

So, I have been offered a fantastic new position in a new country, which means I will leave Hong Kong after 4 years, 7 months and 16 days (or 1689 days, I'll have you know thanks to this gadget). I am extremely happy. The new role is in a (for now) undisclosed location, but let me just say it's a bigger role, and it's not in China or Southeast Asia.

The role starts on September 1st (tomorrow), so I will not post for a while, at least until things have settled down in the new role. Together with my co-bloggers Sergio and Jorge Sapio, we have written almost 1000 posts (950 to be precise), and have received almost 100k visits. To all of you, dedicated and casual readers, I say... thank you!

I was told by a friend the other day that Brian Regan was worth my time. I did see him and I loved his show so much that I saw all that was available from him. I especially love the fact that his shows are totally devoid of any bad words. He shows that you don't need profanity in order to make you laugh.

There is an art almost as ancient as taking pictures: photobombing them - or appearing in them in an awkward or funny pose, completely disrupting and usually ruining the photo. However, in the great compilation below, the photos are actually improved!

So the New Scientist magazine reports that scientists at the Saint Andrews University in the UK have managed to stop light for a full minute. For comparison, in this period the light would have travelled 18 million kilometres - or one seventh of the distance which separates us to the Sun.

I mentioned the Sun just to put up this awesome infography...

Imagine the possibilities of light and power saving that this technology will have, when properly reined in! Amazing, huh?

This article tells the results of an interesting battery of studies performed to determine what affects decisions. Some are downright quirky (did you know that apparently leaning your head left makes your number decisions to go smaller?). But all in all, it makes some interesting conclusions as to how to make better decisions in general. Eat well, sleep well, and have a bladder full of pee (not joking!).

The only difference? In the "blue" countries, "Don't donate" is the default, in the "red ones", "Donate" is default.

I saw this here, and frankly I give them credit. I find it hard to believe there is a more impactful first paragraph in all of Wikipedia's articles:

Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963), was a British Army officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War, was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear, survived a plane crash, tunneled out of a POW camp, and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He later said, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." -

This is an original idea. The Smithsonian magazine asked several Nobel-prize winners to summarize their work (for which they had been awarded the prize) on a white A2 page. The results are interesting. I don't think most are immediately understandable but the below one is, at least its summary.

Y'all know TED, so I won't introduce them. I think they have expanded their scope, from strictly business, to more "inspirational" talks... and this page has compiled 15 of the most inspirational ones. Below the one I found more interesting:

Other 14 inspiring talks following the link. Which one did you prefer?

So this band Extreme is mostly known for one song (More than Words), which is nice. But for me, their nicest song, with fantastic vocal harmonies and a catchy tune, is the one below. Ideal to start the weekend.